Ankle support and protector.



H. J. OOLLIS.

ANKLE SUPPORT AND PROTECTOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY4, 1912 1,084,197, Patented Jan. 13, 1914.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0.. WASHINGTON, D. C.

STTFLfi HENRY JAIVEES COLLIS, OF 'IAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ANKLE SUPPORT AND PROTECTOR.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY JAMES CoLLIs, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Taunton, in the county of Bristol and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ankle Supports and Protectors, of which the .following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for supporting and protecting ankles, and it has special relation to devices of this class which are designed for use in athletic sports and which are generally employed in position over the stocking and within the shoe.

My present invention embodies certain improvements in the construction of ankle supports and protectors of the type shown in my Patent No. 913,263, granted February 23, 1909, substantially as hereinafter set forth.

The object of my present improvements is to provide a simple device of this class which can be more readily and economically manufactured, which will be extremely simple in construction, which will more efiectively avoid chafing and the presence of seams at those points where the extra thickness of seams is undesirable, and which will furthermore possess advantages in point of durability, effectiveness and general efficiency.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective View illustrating the appearance of the device when in use. Fig. 2 is a perspective view with the device open and looking at the inner side. Fig. 3 is a detail side view, showing the seam connection between the upper portion and instep strip. Fig. 4% is a detail cross-section on the line wa", Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail cross-section on the line y-y, Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the blank from which the main outside top portion of the device is formed.

Corresponding parts in all the figures are denoted by the same reference characters.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the main outside portion of the body of the device, which forms the sides, as at 22, of the upper portion which surrounds the ankle. The member 1 is constructed in a single piece, from a blank of soft pliable material, such as leather or a suitable fabric, and the blank comprises two corresponding half portions shaped to form the sides 22, the front edges of the side portions 2 being curved, as at 41, to form the open front of Specification of Letters Eatent.

Application filed Maya, 1912.

Pz'ttented Jain 1 .3 it 43145:.

Serial No. 695,212.

the device. The central portion, (3, of the one-piece blank forms the rear portion of the body and is adapted to surround the rear of the ankle above the heel. From another one-piece blank, of suitable shape and like-- wise of soft pliable material, is formed a strap, 3, which passes under the instep, this instep strip being secured to and carried by the main outside portion 1 of the body of the device. The end ed of the instep strip 3 are connected to the lower edges. 5, of the side portions 2 of the main outside up per portion of the body of the device, in any suitable or adapted manner, but I prefer to have the edges of the strip 3 and the ed ges 5 abutting, as herein shown, and secured by a cross stitch, as at 7, thereby forming continuous smooth surface without overlaps and thus enhancing the comfort and fit of the device in wear. as well as avoiding excess thickness at the side seams above the instep portion, but it will be understood that if desired the edges 5 of the top portion 1 may overlap the edges the instep strip and be stitched thereto in the form of an overlapping seam.

The improved construction a. above described thus provides a seamless smooth back section 6, which will effectively avoid any chafing at the back of the ankle above the heel and will provide a soft and pliable condition at this part of the device without excess thickness.

At the inner side of the main portion 1 is provided a body strip, 10, extending over the entire inner face of the upper side portions 2 of the main portion 1 and secured thereto by a suitable stitching, as at 11.. This inner body strip is formed of a single seamless blank of soft pliable material, corresponding substantially to bot-h the shape and area of the main outside blank 1, and its central portion therefore covers the inner face of the seamless back section 6 of the main outside body portion of the device. The improved construction and arranuement thus preserves the seamless status of the back section of the device, and avoids any seams or overlaps throughout the rear upper portion of the body of the device which surrounds the ankle, whereby the device is rendered more durable and more of fectively resists strains. The seamless upper portion of the body of the de ice fur-then more precludes any possibility of tearing or ripping under strain, both the outer portion 1 and the inner body strip 10 being respectively formed of a single piece of material, and the only connected seams exist at the sides of the device beneath the upper portion which surrounds the ankle and above the lower portion 3 which surrounds the instep.

In the application of my present improvements to the device of the type set forth in my previous patent above mentioned, the general features of construction may be the same as disclosed in that patent. F or instance, a series of pockets, as at 14:, are formed between the outside main portion 1 strips 15, and having open tops closed by and the inside body strip 10, at the sides 2, said pockets carrying removable stiffening strips, 5, and having open stops closed by an inwardly and downwardly projecting flap, 16, constituted by an extension of the top edge of the main portion 1. Such previous construction also embodies suitable fastening means at the front edges 4, preferably constituted by eyelets, 17, and a lace, 18, and a suitabl tongue flap, 19, is carried at the inner side of the device to underlie such fastening means. But in the employment of my improved construct-ion, as herein described, in association with the general structural features just set forth, the series of pockets 14c terminate in front of the smooth and pliable back section 6, whereby the entire back section has a soft and smooth and seamless status, without impairment, and the whole area back of the ankle and above the heel is without seams or excess thickness, it being constituted entirely by a substantially Vshaped portion formed by the central portion of the main outside blank 1 and the central portion of the inner body strip 10. In the improved construction, the top flaps 16 also preferably have their rear ends terminating in front of said soft and seamless approximately V-shaped back portion 6, so that no excess thickness exists at the top thereof, and the top edge of the central portion of the main outside body portion 1 is preferably skived and turned over inwardly, as at 8, and secured by stitching, as at 9, to form a rounded and finished top edge.

The lower edges of the inner body strip 10 terminate above the instep strip 3, and the inner face of the latter is protected by a sweat-proof lining, 20, to protect the single thickness of leather or pliable material at this point. In the constructions as previously employed, the instep portion is liable to rot and break, by reason of its single thickness and posit-ion under the instep, where the strongest strain and hardest test in wear is encountered. The sweat-proof lining 20 operates not only to protect the instep strip 8 and prevent rot and breaking or wearing away, but it also reinforces and strengthens the device at this point most subject to strain and wear. The lining 20 is constituted by a strip covering the entire inner surface of the instep portion 3 and secured thereto by a suitable stitching, as at 21, its ends being inserted beneath the lower edge of the inner body strip 10 and likewise secured by a suitable stitching, as at 22. This sweat-proof lining strip may be of any suitable or adapted material having the required water-proof characteristics.

It will be understood that, under some conditions of preferred manufacture, the main body blank 1 and the inner body strip 10 may be cut in pattern to form a closed heel portion like that shown in my above mentioned previous patent, in lieu of the open heel portion, 23, herein illustrated.

The operation and advantages of my improvements will be readily understood by those familiar with the athletic arts and the uses for which the device is adapted. The improved construction provides the maximum of comfort, convenience and durability, and produces a soft and pliable status at all tender parts of the foot and ankle, especially at the back section which comes immediately above the heel. The relative construction also secures facility and economy in manufacture and provides for the utilization of the material without waste under the relative pattern conditions which follow from the formation of the upper body portion from two corresponding onepiece blanks and the formation of the instep portion from a single one-piece blank.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

An improved ankle support and protector of the class described, comprising a pliable outside main portion forming the side portions of the upper part of the body of the device which extend at each side of the ankle and at the front and at the rear of the ankle above the heel, said outside main portion being seamless at its back section which surrounds the rear of the ankle above the heel, an inner pliable body strip corresponding to and extending over the inner face of said main outside portion and seamless at its rear section which surrounds the rear of the ankle above the heel, said outside main portion and inner body strip being secured together and constituting the main upper portion of the body of the device, and a pliable bottom strip forming the lower portion which extends downwardly from said upper body portion of the device and passes under the instep, the end edges of said separate bottom strip being respectively secured in connection with the respective bottom edges of said main outside portion of the upper body portion of the device, whereby the connecting seams between the separate bottom instep-strip portion and the upper body portion which is constituted by the outside main portion and the inner body strip are at the respective sides of the device immediately beneath the upper body portion and both the outside main portion and the inner body strip of th upper portion of the de- 10 vice present a smooth and seamless surface I at the back section which surrounds the rear of the ankle above the heel.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name in the presence of the subscribing witncsses.

HENRY JAMES COLLIS.

Witnessesz ALBERT S. ELDRIDGE, BESSIE COSTIGAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

